Dancedancedancedancedancedance

Today we had an African Dance assembly. Cool!

I shepherded in my group of 9th graders, and we joined the 9th/10th grade section. One sweet girl gave me a note as she sat down, for Teacher Appreciation week. It read: "Greta is... An amazing singer and a WONDERFUL teacher!!" It gave me the warm fuzzies all over.

At one point, the girls in front of me were talking, and I rubbed one girl's back gently. "Hon, quiet down." She turned around with a scowl, but when she saw it was me, she relaxed and grinned, nodding her compliance.

The music started, and the kids all started clapping along, terribly out of rhythm. It made me laugh and like them.

Then the African Dancing Singer Lady ordered all the teachers to get up on stage. What? Really?

I joined the rest of them, the lot of us laughing self-consciously. Once we were up there, the African Dancing Singer Lady told us we were going to dance. From my 9th and 10th grade corner, I heard a roar: "Gooooo Greta!!"

Ha!

And the music started, and I DANCED. Oh yes, I DID DANCE. I danced AFRICAN dance. And I was into it. I was in front, so I couldn't see what the other teachers looked like-- apparently they were "marking" the movements that the lady was instructing us in. But they were behind me, so I just tried to make myself look like her. And I did the DANCING DANCING, I DID THE DANCE.

When we were done, the kids all clapped and cheered, and when I booped and bopped my way down the stairs, they all started giving me high-fives. I got back to my corner of kids and they were all congratulating me! As they filed out of the assembly, I got one high-five after another, and kudos from the kids on my dancing. When I found out I was apparently doing it "bigger" than the other teachers, I felt a little embarrassed, but the kids' comments made me laugh and grin.

I just LIKE them all so much. I love what I'm doing. Another one of those starry eyed, shmoopy posts. But especially after yesterday, I realized how much I like MY students, and how much I'd missed them. I told them as much, this morning. "I really missed you guys!!"

The other day, the kids were still getting settled in their desks, and I was looking over them all. Eduardo said, "What are you looking at? You're wondering if we love you, huh?"
I grinned and rolled my eyes.
"We like you, don't worry," he said. "You're one of the good ones, we like you."
"Sometimes you get on our nerves, but we like you," another girl supplied.
"I'm sure I do!" I said, and laughed.

Just right then: they like me, but I'm not so buddy buddy with them that I never get on their nerves. When I'm telling them that they need to turn in their homework, or stop talking, or that cursing in their blogs is inappropriate, I SHOULD get on their nerves. But they like me, too.

And I like them. :)

Such a good thing.